- "Oklahoma Gardening" is a production of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, as part of the land grant mission of the division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University dedicated to improving the quality of life of the citizens of Oklahoma through research-based information.

Underwriting assistance for our program is provided by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, helping to keep Oklahoma green and growing.

Welcome to "Oklahoma Gardening."

Today we're off to visit gardens in Northeastern, Oklahoma.

We first stop at Gathering Place in Tulsa.

Then we head to Wagner to learn about a garden that is serving the community children.

We then finally make a stop in Broken Arrow to see a backyard full of life.

(soft music) (soft music increases) Today, we are here at Gathering Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

And joining me today is Stacie Martin, who is the Director of Horticulture and Operations.

Stacie, thank you so much for having us today.

- Yeah, thank you.

- It's a beautiful park, and there's so much going on.

Tell us a little bit about the horticulture aspect of it.

- Yeah, so many people may have been to Gathering Place for some of our amazing playgrounds and some of our amazing events, but we actually have a really awesome landscape as well.

Is designed to be wild replica of some of Oklahoma's native ecosystems and has very sustainable perennial displays.

Starting an adventure play , one of our most popular areas, we have 300 trees that are original to this property that we spent a good amount of time figuring out how to preserve and how to protect and how to maintain their health.

We then planted 6,000 additional trees.

And as gardeners, we all love trees.

We love the shade they provide.

We love the ecosystems and the birds that the trees support.

And we also really love like the water storm water benefits and carbon sequestration.

- Absolutely.

And so, I mean, trees are just one aspect of the whole ecosystem that you've created here.

So behind us is the kind of the native area, too?

- Yes.

Behind us we've got Peggy's pond.

- Okay.

- And we've got our wetland gardens.

- Okay.

- Our wetland gardens is a way for the pond water to cycle through the gardens and filter out some of the pollution.

We got a lot of red-winged blackbirds and we get a lot of herons around here.

And when you're at the pond, one of the most popular activities is to feed the fish.

- So tell us a little bit, too, as we venture further in, 'cause this is kind of up at the entrance, as we venture further into the park, I know it sort of represents the ecology of the whole state.

- Yep.

- How has that played out?

- So if you've driven down Riverside, you've seen some of our wild flowers.

We have 16 acres of prairie.

We've got short grass prairie, we've got tall grass prairie.

And, you know, monarchs were recently declared endangered by the IUCN.

So we're always planting milkweed.

We can't wait to see our monarch migration come through in September and October.

- [Casey] That's awesome.

- Some other areas that, you know, for your more traditional garden spaces, your more color displays, one of my favorite places to visit is Sky Garden.

Sky Garden has a number of different plants.

They're always something in color.

It overlooks the Arkansas River.

And all of the species are perennial.

So it's a really beautiful place.

- So it's a really great place to come as a gardener and kind of see what I need to plant in my garden to keep that season going throughout the year.

- Yeah, exactly.

It's a great place to come and learn about different species.

We have over 400 species here.

So, there's something new for everybody.

- And I know there's also an area that kind of represents Southeastern Oklahoma.

Tell us a little bit about that.

- Yeah.

We have this pine palm area that replicates some of the pine palm Gulch in Southeastern Oklahoma.

One of the most cold hearty palms is from the Kern County, and we have those underneath some of our loblolly pines.

So, it's really, like you're in another world, almost.

- [Casey] It absolutely feels like that when you're walking through here.

You can travel this day in one day.

- [Stacie] Yeah, yeah.

- How long do you think a person should kind of plan to be here if they're just walking through the park?

- I'd say a couple of hours, even if you're not planning on the playgrounds, because you can go to the different areas of the park.

You can stop in the boathouse.

You can stop in the lodge and kind of take that cooling off time or warming up time in the winter.

And you get a really different Vista and a different view from all of those areas as well.

- Well, and there's actually a lot of topography, right?

So we're right now kind of low on the lake here.

- Yep.

- But you can get high up onto some oversights and things like that.

There's a lot of geography topography.

- Yeah.

- And then also just the materials that are used in the design, the rocks and the wood.

Tell us a little bit about all of that.

- So the site was originally flat.

And so, the landscape architect worked really hard to create some interesting areas.

And I'm telling you, the hills are one of the most popular... - [Stacey] Play elements for some of the kids as well.

People love running up and down the hills but we've got these rolling lawn areas.

We have this garden called four seasons which is a rock garden and it's got rock columns and that's really replica of like Chandler Park.

- [Casey] Yeah.

There's a lot of that exposed rock and I don't know a gardener that doesn't also appreciate rock and the garden.

- Right?

Yeah, exactly.

- So definitely you've got a lot of wildlife that kind of comes in here with birds and the insects and, and the people too.

Yeah.

(both laugh) - Yeah.

We really take big efforts to kind of maintain that as well.

For example, during the winter, we stagger our cut back.

So our prairies don't all get cut back at the same time 'cause we wanna provide habitat for some of the native pollinators, the native insects, the native bees, even so much as the cattails, our staff prefers to cut them back when it's still warm out, and I definitely agree that it is much nicer than, (both laugh) but we do leave select areas up because it's such good habitat to have that diversity.

- That's important.

- Yeah.

- And I know as a gardener that comes here, they're probably going to ask, what's the favorite time to come or the best season.

Is there a best season?

- I don't know.

(both laugh) Like I'm still learning that every season has become my favorite because fall, we have such wonderful fall color, and we've got all of the fall nectar plants in bloom, and you do have that monarch migration come through.

It's a really spectacular time.

But once like May and June hit all the wild flowers are in bloom and that's 16 acres- - Wow.

- you know of lush green wild.

So that in itself is spectacular, but you know summer is so nice to be outside, and we've got all of those summer blooming plants.

So really you can't go wrong.

- Alright, well, where could people find more information?

Not only about the horticulture, but just all the other events that are going on.

You have boat rentals at different times of years- - Yep.

- and all the other stuff.

- We have boat rentals in September and October, and I'd find more of that on the website.

Definitely check it before you come.

You can learn more about specific hours for activities, and you can learn more about the parking, and events that we have going on.

It's also a great resource because we have a self-guided horticulture tour.

We have a tutorial flower guide, and we have a blog that I update as often as possible.

- Okay and best part, admission to just get in here is free.

- It's free.

Yep.

Exactly.

So come enjoy the 400 species.

Come learn something new and experience the park in a different way than you may have expected.

- You can't beat it.

- Yeah.

- Thank you so much, Stacey.

Appreciate you joining us.

- Thank you.

(upbeat music) - We are here in Wagoner, Oklahoma, at the Lincoln Enrichment Center, and this is a place of learning for people of all ages, and joining me today is John Jones who is the Executive Director of this area, this center.

John, tell me a little bit, we've been talking for about two years I think- - Right.

- our initial communication came about during COVID.

- Right.

- So how long have you guys been operating here?

- Well, we've been here for a little over four years.

This is very exciting for us to have you here.

We've worked with Oklahoma Extension the Cooperative they've sent out so many wonderful staff members that works with our kids.

We'll take stuff out of the garden actually use it in cooking.

So we love that partnership.

- You really like to get the kids outdoors, right?

- Absolutely.

Get their hands in the dirt, and I found that they just take to it naturally, and I see why it's used so much for teaching instruction because it really teaches the patience.

- Yeah.

- It teaches things aren't immediate.

It teaches that there's work involved in things, but when they get to see things that bloom.

Today we got a great guest arrival.

Our swallow tail caterpillars appeared this morning.

So starting to understand how nature works.

We're very fortunate.

A lot of our local gardeners have really poured themselves in, like Nancy Wagner on showing us how to set up the native plants that are actually going to help our pollinators here.

So we try to have it educational but also beneficial for the community.

- Yeah, and I know this actually started kind of as a a service to the community, right?

Tell me a little bit about the school system that changed their schedule and you saw a gap there.

- Right.

They went to a four day school week and Dr. Susan and I, we don't have children but we were traveling through and we saw kids out playing literally in the dirt, down the street, so to now see 'em playing in this kind of dirt and this kind of yield is wonderful.

But the four day school week, in larger communities, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, you have things like boys and girls clubs or large churches that have day programming.

We didn't, and so, so many of our kids, we have a disproportionate amount of of section eight housing here, kids at risk, we needed a free day service and program for the kids and we didn't want it to just be a drop off center.

- Right.

- We wanted it to be a place that taught life skills, and so to see the community come together here, and that's what we're hoping this serves as a model for other communities, when we start, you know, leveraging and pulling our resources, we have four to five retired teachers.

They couldn't get enough.

They come here, one-on-one time with the students, and reading, writing, math.

We do have a laundry here, washer and dryer, but we want to expand and have a full, you know, hygiene facility for our kiddos.

- Right.

- And just continue to expand this.

Hopefully you'll get a nice shot on your way out and see what the community did here with a new playground for the kiddos.

So we have a lot of plans here.

Things got slowed up a little bit with COVID.

- But, you know, there's no stopping hearts that are passionate and focused.

- So tell me a little bit about the age range specifically on the kids that you're looking, or trying to work with.

- Well, because of our numbers being an all volunteer program, we, we really had to focus in on our younger kiddos right now.

So we're really working pretty much with pre-K through sixth grade.

- Okay.

- Fortunately, we have a lot of exceptional high school students that come out here and volunteer.

It's nice to have some talented, passionate young people with them.

And so to see the different ages, this really is for all ages.

We are really believing that we're gonna get a long term use of the facility here or the property transferred to us, get the funding necessary where we can have staff, and be open every day, have a community gathering center down here for for our community, the grandmothers and grandparents with their kiddos and, and have a wonderful place down here for the weekends for them to be able to enjoy.

- Yeah.

So your current schedule is just to fill during the summer one day a week, and then also specifically in the school year, one day a week, is that correct?

- Well, we focus on that, but in all honesty, you drop by here, you might see us some days, like today where we have eight to 12 kids or maybe other days we have 25 to 30 kids, but we're really in reality working with about 200, 250 kids and their families.

- Wow.

- We get calls.

So there's a lot of things that we get to do.

- So there's no commitment from the, the family to drop their kids off?

or - No.

- like, and it's free!

- No, the only thing that we ask like for today is that they sign a release, so video or anything else - Yeah.

- That they can do and, and any contact information.

- Right.

- And besides that, we're, we're here to just love on these kids and let 'em know how special they are, because that's one of the reasons we, we were brighter futures.

We don't think there's anything more important to our future than our children.

- Yeah.

- And we just need to fill some of those gaps and some of those voids and, and have a special place for 'em.

So, I'm so proud of this community and and how it's come together for this.

- Yeah.

- And, and I think it's gonna be a model for other places.

- And you've mentioned that, you know all of the community that's gotten behind this, and the organizations and how it was started to help with the kids, but you're seeing that it's affecting everyone in the community.

- Yeah.

It's really almost like a pallet for relationships to take place here.

- Right.

- And so people come out here kind of not knowing exactly what they're gonna do maybe an arts or crafts project, and then it just turns into so much more.

- If somebody wants to get involved or wants more information, where should they find that?

- They can go to our website which you all have posted, it'll give 'em history, if they wanna volunteer, also if they want to donate, and they can find out more about what we do here.

- All right.

Thank you so much for sharing this.

It's amazing what the Wagner community has done.

- It is, and we hope to have you back out again so you can update our progress here.

- Definitely, thank you.

- Thank you.

(upbeat music) - Today, we are in Broken Arrow at Brent and Suzanne Gabelle's home.

And I have to say, when I was driving through this neighborhood, Brent, I knew which house we were stopping at because this is just an explosion of color.

Well, thank you.

- You're welcome.

You've got beautiful hydrangeas and, and so many beautiful flowers.

Tell me a little bit about kind of your planting style.

- Well, summer, winter, and fall, basically.

And, I have all the pansies, and tulips and daffodils coming up, and then when they start to looking the best, I rip 'em all out and then put in my summer annuals, and water and weed, that's what a lot of people do.

- You've got a lot of annuals, but I have to say, so we're at the end of July here and it's impressive how well your garden's looking with these hundred degree, temperatures that we're having.

Any secrets other than watering?

- Well, it's, I use a lot of Osmo coat.

- Okay.

- You know, a time release fertilizer, but other than that, it's kind of the luck of the draw, I think.

You know, some of it makes it, some of it don't.

I just move it around where it's the happiest.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Well, you got, you were mentioning kind of your seasons your garden goes through.

If, if it's this impressive in July, I can only imagine what it looks like in spring and fall.

But tell me a little bit about some of those plants, uhm, that you have that really will take off more in the spring, and the summer, fall.

- Okay.

- And even in the winter time, you've got some stuff tucked away.

- Yeah, Yeah, like I got Candy Corn Spirea, and it turns a really bright yellow, and we put in a lot of Violas, like in the wheel barrow area and stuff like that.

And then last year I grew a bunch of corn.

- Okay.

- And then used it for fall.

- Right.

- You know, in different places.

My wife's real good at that.

Suzanne.

- And I noticed you've got even tomatoes tucked in, - I do, - mums tucked in, - I do, I got a little small greenhouse and I run outta room.

So I just kind of stick it where the sun will shine you know, and, and literally, and let it grow.

And, uh - Well, it looks like one of your kind of tricks is to really cover and fill in every little spot.

So you don't have as many weeds - Exactly.

Best you can.

Yeah.

There's, you know, Bermuda is really tough this time.

It's so hot.

It, it likes the heat, but.

- It's real easy to pull out 'cause it grows real long, - Yeah.

- Leggy, you know, - So, you have a... - That's the bat.

- You kinda have a small footprint of a yard here.

- I do, yeah.

- But you've even tucked in a little lean-to greenhouse on the side.

- I do, I got a little one back there, yeah.

That's where I start all my plants and stuff.

- Okay.

- A lot of the annuals I get, in the spring but a lot of the vancant stuff is volunteer.

- Oh, okay.

- That I move around.

- And do you like, - I just move 'em around, dig 'em up and move 'em.

- So you allow that to happen and kind of, - I let it all.

(lady chuckling) - I don't even like killing a mouse anymore, so I don't want anybody killing a plant.

My wife, if she sees it on the ground, she'll stick it in the kitchen, you know?

So she don't waste it.

(lady laughing) - You've also got some gladiolus that are still coming on.

- I do.

- Tell me a little bit about what you do with your glads.

- Well, the glads, what I do is I stagger 'em.

You plant 'em in the spring and then once I put down the first hundred bulbs and then I'll wait two weeks and put in another hundred bulbs in with 'em, and then another two weeks, another a hundred bulbs and then whatever I have dug up from last year, and then they bloom all summer long that way.

It's not a full giant flash all at once but it staggers it.

And then I got other stuff coming on, like the zinnias and that kinda stuff.

- So you actually dig them up every year, - I dig 'em up, - So that you can replant 'em.

- The ones I can remember where they're at.

(lady laughing) - Well, you've got a lot squeezed in your front yard, just looking at your yard and I love how it transitions to the shade as you get closer to your doorway there as well.

I can't wait, can we go take a look at the backyard?

- Absolutely.

- All right, thank you, let's go.

- Okay (birds chirping) - Brent, I don't know how you squeeze so much in!

(lady laughing) You've got a lot back here and it's a fairly, like I said, smaller backyard, and a little bit of a, not just your typical square backyard either.

So you're taking advantage of every square foot.

- Trying to, yeah.

- So this bed's maybe three feet deep but you have taken advantage of the vertical element here.

- Yeah, we trying to kinda cover up the fence and block some of the neighbor houses and some of the sound.

- And you've even squeezed in more trees with your vitex here.

- Yeah, the butterflies and insects really love this thing when it's in full bloom.

- Oh, I bet.

- And it grows like a weed, it grows fast.

- So you like birds, right?

- Yeah.

(lady laughing) Every year I gotta add a house 'cause I keep getting more and more Martins.

And they're having a little trouble this year 'cause the babies are getting too hot in the nest and they're jumping out.

- Oh no.

- So they're having to feed 'em on the ground but most of them's already left and I'll take all those down in the winter and put 'em up, and then put 'em back up in February.

And here they come again they're flying around.

And then I've got this little... - Is this for your dogs?

- Yeah, yeah, - I was gonna ask about that.

- He thinks it his, he digs it up everyone he's just a puppy.

That's Mr. Bentley.

- Okay.

- But the sparrows, this is one of the best things we ever put in.

We like sparrows 'cause they built a lot of houses around here and they killed a lot of our woodlands.

So we don't get all the pretty birds that we want.

We do get cardinals and we had a bunting once.

We get ducks, a lot of mallards, they'll come back here and land and I feed 'em corn.

And then in my water pond I get herrings that eat my fish.

- Wow!

- But anyway, the sparrows, they love to take sun baths or sand baths in this thing.

Sometimes that thing would be just totally covered.

And then they just fight over the holes they dig.

And We just sit on our couch thing there and, - Just enjoy them playing.

- Watch them all play.

- [Brent] Yeah, we enjoy it.

That's what it's all about, the insects.

- You've got your bird bath here but I think that's a feature sometimes people don't think about for birds is the dust bath that they like.

- I try to tell people put in a dust pit or something, I mean, it's mostly sparrows I won't lie to you which I got an albino sparrow that comes in.

- Really?

- Yeah, I got a picture, I'll show you but they're unusual, you don't see very many albino, - No, I bet.

- Sparrows, but they love that thing, especially the hotter, the better.

- Well, you've got a lot of vertical elements that I'm sure the birds are liking.

Even the honeysuckle vine you've got growing.

How's that being supported there?

- Well, I've got an old wagon wheel I found and put it up on some steaks and tied it to the house and kind of overhang, now it's turned into a big kind of ball now but.

(lady laughing) - When we talk about gardening and design we always talk about having those little spaces to kinda discover.

And you've definitely done this in a smaller yard here.

So, not only the water garden, but also, I mean it's hot right, - Ah-ha, it's hot.

- So you have a little rest bed here.

- Yeah, we got a little umbrella.

It's really cool, A lot cooler down here at night.

The South Carolina Jassamine will grow over this whole entire thing, and it'll be the prettiest yellow in the spring.

We gotta have all the different colors.

- Yeah.

- And it's a bird magnet.

- And I assume the sunflowers are for the birds, is that, - They are, they are.

I kinda start 'em and plant 'em at different times.

They're mainly for the finches, and they like the zinnias too and the coneflower seeds.

And we just enjoy them.

- So your wife mentioned Little Mexico, I thought I've seen everything.

Where's that at?

- She's got a little spot over in the corner back there and she calls it her little Mexico and she really enjoys it back there.

She sits there at night and watches the stars and all that kind of thing.

And she's got her plants back there, the hibiscus.

- Mexican Heather in Mexico.

- So another little space you've created.

- Yeah, she literally, yes, that was all her idea, yeah.

- So tell me, I mean, obviously you clearly love gardening.

What's your favorite aspect of all this?

- Well, I like to share with people, we don't get a lot of people, but in the front yard people walk on the sidewalks all the time and if I'm out there working they'll stop and it's a conversation piece and they, I give them cut flowers, the ladies, and they all really enjoy it.

And I've had them knock on the door and the kids wanted tulips, you know?

Gave them all tulips and, that's what we enjoy.

- Sharing with everybody.

- And for the insects and for the bird.

- Well, thank you so much for sharing your garden with us and all of our viewers today.

It's just beautiful.

- Well, thank you very much.

(upbeat country music) - As host of Oklahoma Gardening, I get the opportunity to travel around the state quite a bit and it's always amazing to see what there is to discover.

Thank you for joining us as we explored Northeastern Oklahoma on our regional tour over the past few weeks.

While we tried to show you a glimpse of the diversity we really tried to highlight all that plants have to offer and how they enrich our lives, whether it's from the food that we eat like mushrooms and seeing the commercial production of those mushrooms, to the biodiversity and the way the plants can act as the heroes or the villains in some ecosystems.

Plants had a way of connecting people to one another through public gardens, community gardens and even backyards.

They turn strangers into neighbors.

Thank you again for joining us and a big thank you to all of those people that helped us kind of tease what Green Country has to offer to people who might visit that area.

And there's also one more person that we have to think who has been very helpful, not only for our regional tour, but also behind the scenes for the past three years with Oklahoma Gardening, and that's Elizabeth Brock.

She has been our editor for this show and she's done a fantastic job.

And I know firsthand with all the bloopers and outtakes that I've given her.

She's definitely had to earn her keep editing the show.

We all thank you, Elizabeth, and wish you the best of luck.

And with her leaving, that leaves us with an open position here on our Oklahoma Gardening team.

If you happen to know somebody who has video editing skills and would like to join a fun outdoor gardening team, they can find more information on our Oklahoma Gardening Facebook page.

(upbeat country music) There are a lot of great horticulture activities this time of year.

Be sure and consider some of these events in the weeks ahead.

(upbeat country music) Next week on Oklahoma Gardening, we've got another great show headed your way, full of pretty plants and creepy critters.

(upbeat country music) (calm country music) - Ready?

(woman wooping) (calm country music) - That's a blast.

- To find out more information about show topics as well as recipes, videos, articles, fact sheets and other resources, including a directory of local extension offices, be sure to visit our website at oklahomagardening.okstate.edu.

Join in on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

You can find this entire show and other recent shows as well as individual segments on our Oklahoma Gardening YouTube channel.

Tune in to our Ok Gardening Classics YouTube channel to watch segments from previous hosts.

Oklahoma Gardening is produced by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service as part of the Division Of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University.

The Botanic Garden at OSU is home to our studio gardens, and we encourage you to come visit this beautiful still-water gem.

We would like to thank our generous underwriter, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry.

Additional support is also provided by Pond Pro Shop, Greenleaf Nursery and the Garden Debut Plants, the Tulsa Garden Center at Woodward Park the Oklahoma Horticultural Society, Smart Pot, and the Tulsa Garden Club.

(calm country music)